More than just a picnic.

Last Sunday, we - my family of 2 adults & 2 kids [minus my 16-year old eldest son in boarding school] - were at the Penang National Park, locally known as Pantai Acheh Forest Reserve for our weekend outing, a place we've never been to.
(see http://travel.tourism.gov.my/consumer/destinations/item.asp?item=Penang#key)
We're supposed to go for a picnic on one of the nice looking beaches there. Having packed our picnic 'basket', a medium-sized sling bag and a roll of 'tikar' in the morning (unfortunately there was a blackout at our place the night before - thanks TNB), I was looking forward to a nice, relaxing time by the beach, going through the weekend newspapers, whilst driving from our Butterworth home to the park (and after a brief breakfast pit-stop at the Tun Sardon market).
Having obtained the necessary permit to enter the park, instead of heading for Teluk Tukun beach area (about 500 metres from the entrance), we decided (the family voted) to head for Pantai Kerachut, about 2 kilometres through jungle tracks where we can also see the much talked about Meromictic Lake (where fresh and seawater co-exist but do not mix). Well, it looked like our normal trekking trip, having been up/down the Bukit Mertajam Hill (To' Kun) 3-hour trail, the Penang Hill (part) 2-hour trail, even the Cameron Highlands' Robinson Fall trail, etc., the only difference being that we're dressed for picnic. Sure enough, I felt abnormally tired throughout the journey, with steep ascend and descend, and crossing five (small) water courses, wearing a pair of slippers and carrying a picnic basket! I guess I was not mentally prepared even for this one hour journey. However, my son Aqil seemed to enjoy the trip, constantly leaving us behind that other trekkers coming from the opposite direction thought that he was on his own! Finally, the sight of the lake and the sound of the waves rejuvenated my senses and the journey was worth every drop of sweat it took.After enjoying the dip in the sea, with Sarah being stung (slightly) by a jellyfish, we've decided to take a boat along the coast back to our starting point. A walk back across the jungle in slippers didn't sound interesting anymore!

Comments

[azury]

Errr... 2km? For your age? Haha.. just kidding!! Glad u guys had fun :)